Women, food, and hormones A four-week plan to achieve hormonal balance, lose weight, and feel like yourself again

Gynecologist Gottfried (Brain, Body, Diet) offers solutions to common midlife complaints in her comprehensive guide to speaking "the language of hormones." She begins with an overview of key hormones (progesterone, estrogen, testosterone) and discusses how hormonal shifts can affect health; gut issues, she notes, often arise as hormone levels shift. When it comes to hormone imbalances, Gottfried eschews the "conventional" treatment--medication--and instead offers the "Gottfried Protocol," a food-focused program involving detoxification, which "eliminates any... tired hormones that are clogging up your metabolism"; nutritional ketosis geared to "restoring insulin levels in women"; and intermittent fasting, which she argues helps balance hormones. Gottfried uses patient case files to illustrate success stories, while lists of do's and don'ts and a meal plan with pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan variations make her plan easy to implement. Gottfried's "woman-to-woman" approach is consistently encouraging: "The goal is not to get skinny but rather to regain the healthiest possible version of you." Readers looking for a holistic approach to rectifying hormonal imbalances will find this a well-marked road map. Agent: Celeste Fine, Park & Fine. (Sept.)